Shadow Hands
by Rikkamaru
Summary: Nijimura Shuuzou was an average shinobi. At times, he was worse. But that didn't stop him from being one, nor did it stop him from all but raising what could be the greatest generation of Konoha ninja yet.
1. Firstborn

Don't own Kuroko no Basuke or Naruto.

Don't own the Cover Art.

Chapter Summary: Shuuzou knew he was a disappointment to his parents, but that didn't mean he would let them drag his little brother Tetsuya into their schemes.

Firstborn

* * *

Shuuzou knew that he wasn't what his parents expected, but he refused to let their disappointment get to him. It was uncommon, but not unheard of, for mercantile clans and ninja clans to merge so that the shinobi clans had a steady source of income and the mercantile clan had more protection. He also knew that, as the clan heir, he was the most disappointing meeting of genes that his family could have gotten.

He inherited almost everything from his father: straight black hair, slate grey eyes, _loud_ chakra (in the silence of the Kuroko clan chakra, his was like an air horn in a temple), and emotive features. In the absorption of the Nijimura into the Kuroko clan, he wasn't even dignified with their name.

He was Nijimura Shuuzou, a boy born to parents who expected so much more.

In opposition to parents who won't even look him in the eye, his grandmother, the Kuroko matriarch, was a godsend. She was petite, and absolutely beautiful in her gentle demeanor and warm eyes. He would often play at her feet, learning how to control his chakra from her when his parents proved not wanting to do so.

He spent his time between her and the former head of the Nijimura, his grandfather, learning clan politics and business techniques in equal measure. At the age of five, while he was in the Academy (a respectable age for that time, though his parents were mortified that he was aiming to be a ninja at all), his mother gave birth to the child they had been praying for.

Soft blue hair and eyes, pale skin, and chakra as soft as a lullaby; Kuroko Tetsuya was the perfect heir.

But their parents didn't see them as children, they saw them as pawns, and Shuuzou would do his best to keep his little brother safe from their machinations, even if it meant his family's hatred.

* * *

Tetsuya loved his big brother.

Even before he could walk or talk he'd loved his brother, who would sneak into his room and talk to him about all that he saw and heard, his gentle voice and chakra that sounded like a falling tree soothing Tetsuya to sleep as he gummed on a moonstone as smooth as those found in the river that Shuuzou had personally carved for him.

Their parents had tried to keep them separate and turn him against his brother, but Tetsuya never listened to them. He would totter after his elder sibling all around the compound, to his other clan members' amusement. Occasionally Shuuzou would give in and carry Tetsuya in his arms or on his back, or take him to the pond where they would put their feet in and laugh as the koi nibbled at their toes.

And then their parents would sweep in, yelling at Shuuzou and dragging Tetsuya away, ignoring their youngest as he cried and reached for his big brother. In a way, Tetsuya did indeed grow jaded and cynical, but it was toward their parents. Shuuzou did his best to keep every promise he made with Tetsuya, and the little boy loved that about him.

And then, when Shuuzou was 12 and Tetsuya was 7, the older boy woke him one night.

"I was promoted to chuunin," the elder boy whispered to him, his hands firm and grounding around Tetsuya's. He took a deep breath, and released it. "The war's not getting any better. They're sending me to the frontlines." Tetsuya felt something inside him crack at that and gripped his brother's hands tightly.

"Why?" He whispered, but couldn't finish. Why you? Why the frontlines? Why are you telling me this?

Shuuzou rubbed his head and Tetsuya realized he was trembling. "My chakra's too noticeable to do infiltration or sabotage missions," he explained, as if he had been told the same thing, and Tetsuya had a sinking feeling that that was indeed what happened. "I'll only be useful in the front distracting the enemy from our other fighters. I'll be able to come back every few weeks, but…not all the time."

"Can I contact you?" He asked, his voice leaking into desperate. "The earrings! Maybe mother or father could –"

"You know they wouldn't," Shuuzou interrupted gently, but smiled before Tetsuya could worry too much. "Grandfather, however, didn't mind at all. I got the earring before coming in here. Find a way to get it, and we'll talk then." Tetsuya nodded in agreement, and lunged forward to wrap his big brother in a hug.

"Please come back," he begged him. Tetsuya was an Academy student now, but he knew what was out there, what his brother was about to enter into.

"I will, I promise." Shuuzou murmured into Tetsuya's hair, and the younger boy put every ounce of faith into his brother's words. After all, Shuuzou had never broken a promise before if he could help it.

He wasn't going to start now.

* * *

Shuuzou sighed and lied back on his sleeping bag. He sent a pulse of chakra to the grey pearl he kept on his left ear. **I'm good to talk now.**

He received a reply immediately. _**How was the fighting today, Nii-san?**_

**It was alright. I ended up with a puppet master from Suna, and we discussed seal making and puppetry as an art and fighting style between lulls in the fighting. He has an interesting concept of art, and I kind of agree with it on a level.**

_**Oh?**_

**Yeah. He said that art is eternal, lasting forever and not fading away with the sands of time. It implies a great amount of disgust towards transient things like humans, but I can understand in a way. The Nijimura were gem-carvers for generations; it's not unusual for you and me to develop an appreciation for gemstones and crystals, which last for an exceedingly long time if properly tended to. But even those fade away with time, so I don't see how anything could be eternal.**

_**It does sound like an interesting conversation. What was his name?**_

**Sasori I think. He lived with his grandmother and younger brother.** Shuuzou shifted and had to stifle a curse as a scrape on his side throbbed at the movement, the grunt of pain rousing his tent-mate.

"Injured again? Tch, idiot." Shuuzou glared at him and took off his shirt at the other boy's impatient gesturing.

"Hurry and heal me so you can go back to your little torture tent, then. I need your griping like I need a senbon between my ribs, Makoto." The other boy sniffed and began dressing the wound, careful despite his muttered insults.

_**Are you alright, Nii-san? I couldn't contact you for a moment.**_Tetsuya sounded concerned, so Shuuzou just sighed a little and responded back, ignoring his teammate for the moment.

**I'm fine; I just had to talk to Makoto for a moment.**

_**Ah. And how is Hanamiya-san?**_His younger brother asked neutrally, his slight dislike for Shuuzou's old genin teammate and current partner on the field apparent.

**Enjoying this war a little more than he should, **Shuuzou admitted ruefully. **He probably won't leave the T&I building much when we come back after this war ends.**

_**That is disappointing to hear. I know you enjoy his company.**_ They spent the rest of the night like that, Shuuzou talking to his younger brother miles away through their earrings, only stopping to talk with Makoto before he went to the prisoner tent.

* * *

The war ended while Tetsuya was still a genin, his brother returning a field-promoted jounin and with a few more scars on his skin and mind. But his eyes were the same, maybe a little more tired overall, but still warm and welcoming as he hugged his little brother in return.

He also returned, Tetsuya was startled to notice as a cry split the air, with a young child in his arms.

Shuuzou caught his confused look and explained. "This is Daiki. I found him and a girl his age in a ransacked village when I was looking for survivors. They were the only ones I could find. No one else was willing to take them in, so I agreed to do it."

"And where is the girl?" Tetsuya asked, curious, and Shuuzou gestured behind himself. Peeking around him, the bluenette was amused to see a scowling Hanamiya struggling to hold the infant as she pulled on his hair. She had startlingly pink hair, very much at odds with the dark blue of Daiki's hair. "And you will take them both in?" he asked as Shuuzou went to his teammate and relieved him of the child, to Hanamiya's clear happiness.

"I will. Mom and dad will likely disown me for it but," here he shrugged, "they've been looking for a reason to do that for a while now. I have enough saved up that I can afford a good apartment, and you're welcome to visit." Tetsuya saw him hesitate before steeling himself. "Or you can live with me there. It's your choice."

The moonstone he'd had since birth was in his pocket and Tetsuya smiled at his big brother, decision already made. "That sounds nice."

* * *

This will be a series of one-shots that are all in the same world. It will just be parts of their lives, so they will not be in order all of the time.

Please review.

Ja ne!


	2. Of Sassy Hawks and an Amused Sensei

Don't own Kuroko no Basuke or Naruto.

Don't own the Cover Art.

Chapter Summary: Shintarou found a Hawk Summon in a bush that he helps. To his annoyance, it won't stop calling him "Shin-chan".

Of Sassy Hawks and an Amused Sensei

* * *

Shintarou adjusted his glasses and took aim again. Just before he released the senbon, he heard a chirp, making him twitch. The senbon struck the bullseye regardless, but not having it in the dead center made something in the weapon specialist hiss. Right before he shot another senbon, he heard the chirp again and twitched the exact same amount, making the needle dig in right next to the other.

Huffing, the green-haired genin began looking for the source of his annoyance, his eyes landing on the bush beside him when he heard the shrubbery chirp. He quickly began searching through it, grumbling in annoyance at whatever was disturbing his training. When he reached the bottom of the bush, Shintarou felt his eyes go wide in surprise.

It was a bird, barely old enough to sustain itself without its mother and leave the nest. It chirped at him happily, its injured wing lying limp beside it. It then struggled up and began dragging itself closer to him, and Shintarou scowled.

"Stop moving around you idiot," he chastised the bird and he might have felt ridiculous for doing it if it weren't for the fact that the bird actually listened to him, stopping and chirping demandingly at him. Frowning to cover how his lips had twitched at the bird's actions, Shintarou grudgingly picked it up and examined it more carefully. The break didn't look too bad, but he had only just begun studying medical ninjutsu and wouldn't be able to heal it himself.

Better go to sensei.

He brought the bird's face closer and scowled. "Bite me and I'll leave you behind." The bird chirped agreeably and Shintarou began collecting his weapons from the boards around them. Soon he was stalking out of the training ground with the bird tucked into the crook of his arm, the bird snuggling into his warmth.

On his way back to the house, Shintarou focused for a moment and sent out a pulse of chakra to the emerald earring his sensei had presented him after their first C-rank, when his adoption into the clan had been successful. **Sensei?**

He got a response immediately. _**Shintarou? Is everything alright?**_

**Yes, sensei. I was practicing at one of the training grounds when I found an injured bird. It wouldn't shut up until I agreed to bring it back with me.**

He felt a pause in their conversation and Shintarou had the sneaking suspicion that his guardian was laughing at him when he responded. _**I see. I will show you what I can to help you with healing your little nuisance.**_

**Arigatou.**

_**Always.**_Shintarou hid a smile at the parting remark and hurried back to the clan house. When he arrived at the front of the traditional house, Shuuzou was sitting there waiting for him, carving gently into quartz stone with chakra-covered fingers.

He stopped in front of his guardian and nodded in greeting. "Shuuzou-sensei."

Shuuzou stopped fiddling with the stone and smiled at him. "Shintarou, welcome home." His smile morphed into a smirk when he caught sight of the bird in the green-haired boy's arms. "And this must be the little nuisance," he teased, petting it on the head when it chirped curiously at him. "Come on in; I found some diagrams on bird anatomy. Your little friend looks like a hawk, and we fortunately have a diagram for him."

"He's not my friend," Shintarou denied instantly, shifting the bird more comfortably as he entered the house and removed his shoes for indoor shoes. Shuuzou nodded in understanding, but Shintarou was fairly certain it wasn't to his statement. They then moved to the room typically used for healing. It had various salves that Shuuzou experimented with and formulas for medicines and poisons that Satsuki was studying on the side while she was in the Academy. On the table was a diagram of the physiology of hawks, and Shuuzou adjusted it until it showed a diagram of the wing clearly.

"Alright, place the bird on the table please." Shintarou did so and watched as his sensei gently extended the bird's wing despite its protests, checking along the bone with his other hand. "The injury is not too bad; a fracture at worst. Nothing's out of place and you're able to heal minor wounds; try to heal this. I'll keep an eye on you and stop you if I think something's wrong."

Shintarou nodded in agreement and summoned up medical chakra. Once it appeared in his hand, the genin hesitantly put it on the bird's wing, who began chirping encouragingly (and Shintarou wondered at the creature's intelligence at that point) at him. They held that position for about a minute before Shuuzou sighed and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Excellent, Shintarou. The wing healed perfectly. He'll be just fine." Shintarou nodded, and felt his previously tensed shoulders relax in relief. "So what are you going to do with it?"

The genin sniffed and adjusted his glasses. "Well I wouldn't know. It needed to be healed; it's been healed. What more is there to it?"

Shuuzou shot him a look out of the corner of his eye as he offered the bird his arm, which it happily perched on. "We could keep him," he offered, standing to leave, Shintarou getting up to follow him out of reflex. "A trained hawk is particularly useful scouts and weapons specialists. And, as you also are training to be a medic-nin, something to scout while you heal your teammates is valuable as well."

Shintarou was fascinated by the idea. "That sounds logical," he agreed, next to his sensei as they moved into the kitchen for food. "Will registration of an animal partner be easy?"

"It should be." Shuuzou offered the bird a bit of fish from the fridge and set about getting dinner ready, the bird having moved to his shoulder and watching on in interest. "We found Nigou during the cleanup following the Kyuubi attack, and the registration then wasn't bad at all. We'll take him to the Hokage when we go in for a mission tomorrow and see about getting him properly registered."

Shintarou nodded then paused. "Him?" he asked, and Shuuzou nodded as well.

"Yep. The diagrams helped me distinguish his crest and height to his age to be a male. Also, before I forget to ask, did you feel any chakra beneath his skin?" His sensei sounded curious as he chopped up the bird he'd gotten from the fridge, occasionally stopping to give the gleeful hawk on his shoulder pieces of meat that he deemed inedible to the humans in the clan.

Shintarou adjusted his glasses and thought back. Now that he thought about it… "Yes, I did feel chakra other than the normal natural chakra that the messenger hawks typically had. What does that mean?"

"It means," Shuuzou sounded amused now, and the hawk looked bashful on his shoulder, "that this hawk is a lying little shit that is capable of speech. So what's your name?" He directed the last question at the hawk, who actually laughed a little.

"You got me sensei," the hawk confessed, and Shintarou could only stare as the bird bowed a little from his spot on his sensei's shoulder to him. "The name's Takao and it's a pleasure to actually talk to you both."

"…sensei?" The genin knew his voice was a little strangled, but how else was he supposed to act when a hawk he had been fairly certain was incapable of human speech suddenly started speaking eloquently to him and his guardian?

Shuuzou seemed to have been at least suspecting this to happen, because he seemed unbothered as he began explaining what was going on. "Takao here is most likely a hawk summon who decided to self-summon himself here. Since he was injured, he was likely in a scuffle in the Summon World and summoned himself here when he gained the injury. He likely didn't want to say he was a summon so that we didn't take advantage of him or something."

"That's about right, yeah." Takao agreed. He then ducked his head and looked up at Shintarou mournfully. "I'm sorry I tricked you, Shin-chan. I just didn't know how nice you were then."

Shintarou stared at the repentant hawk silently for a moment before sighing. "Don't call me Shin-chan," he scolded. "And I'm certainly not _nice_." He frowned the word, and saw Shuuzou turn away to hide a smile, but Takao flew into his arms before he could say anything to his guardian.

"Of course Shin-chan is nice!" he chirped, blatantly ignoring the first part of his sentence. "You healed me when I was hurt and didn't expect anything in return! You're so nice~!"

"Don't say stupid things!"

"In fact, I'm going to be your partner! I'll get you signed to the Hawk Summoning Scroll and stay with you forever and ever!"

"Go to hell!"

By the sink, Shuuzou couldn't breathe from laughter.

* * *

At this point, I am suspicious when a character slowly starts moving their way into the story. First Hanamiya, now Takao. Who next, Himuro?

Please review.

Ja ne!


	3. Average

Don't own Kuroko no Basuke or Naruto.

Don't own the Cover Art.

Chapter Summary: Tatsuya was an average shinobi. And he hated it. So when a Konoha shinobi appeared, defeated him, then offered to introduce him to his sensei, he agreed to go with him.

Average

* * *

Himuro Tatsuya was an average ninja. He had normal reserves, average skills with weapons, and had no predilection towards taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu.

And he hated it so much.

His adopted younger brother, Taiga, was a chakra powerhouse in comparison. He was a brutal taijutsu user, and had a near unending stamina that could go through two or three C-ranked missions a day without tiring. He was the ideal shinobi in the eyes of Kusagakure, and Tatsuya kind of hated him for it too.

When he met a shinobi from Konohagakure, he was in the midst of fighting them when the man said something that nearly pushed him over the edge. "You're weak," the purple-haired teen yawned, not even dodging and instead lifting his arm to block Tatsuya's incoming punch.

The blow did nothing of note to the taller teen and Tatsuya growled at the bored look on the teen's face. "I'm not weak," he hissed, lashing a foot out and hitting him in the neck.

The teen remained unmoved, batting Tatsuya away like he was nothing more than a fly. "You are," he insisted childishly. "You don't have a focus in your fighting between taijutsu, genjutsu or ninjutsu, but you're average in everything rather than skilled in all three. You haven't even shown your elemental affinity. You're average, and average is weak."

"Shut up!" Tatsuya shouted, jumping forward to punch the other teen in the sternum. When it did nothing to stagger him, it only served to infuriate him even more. "What kind of monster are you?!"

He yawned. "My chakra naturally runs throughout my entire body, increasing my durability exponentially. You won't be able to hurt me for quite some time yet."

Desperation and helplessness drove Tatsuya on and he went through a series of handseals. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" A snarling dragon of water appeared behind Tatsuya, leaving him panting from the exertion of summoning the creature in a place with no large source of water.

"Ah…" suddenly the teen looked as if he'd figured something out. "I see now; your affinity is water, which makes you even more useless to a village like Kusagakure. You truly are weak while you're serving them."

"Shut up!" Tatsuya shouted again, and the dragon roared, hurtling toward the purple-haired chuunin.

The teen yawned again. "Unfortunately for you, I have an earth affinity." He then went through some seals as well and slammed his hands onto the ground. "Doton: Dosekiryuu." A gigantic dragon came from the earth, _swallowing_ the water dragon and wrapping around Tatsuya. "You lose," the teen sang, walking forward to look at him more closely.

Tatsuya shook a little from exhaustion and frustration. "Just kill me," he said. "I was ready to leave my village so that I could get stronger, but it clearly won't work. I'm better off dead." He paused, contemplating asking something before his supposed death. "How did you get so strong anyway? Naturally I suppose?"

"That's part of it," the teen agreed. "I also had a good sensei, and he was an earth and water affinity. He was average too, but he was a good teacher and knows how to take down people stronger than him. He was in the frontlines of the Third Shinobi War."

"I see." Tatsuya thought about that for a moment then looked at the other teen once more. "Could I…go with you to Konoha? Maybe your sensei could help me."

The chuunin shrugged. "I don't see why not. We've done stuff like this before." As Tatsuya wondered at that, the teen returned the dragon to the earth and looked at him. "What's your name?"

"Himuro Tatsuya. And yours?"

The teen bowed his head a little at him then yawned again. "I'm Murasakibara Atsushi. Nice to meet you, I guess."

They traveled in relative silence after that, only stopping to sleep and hunt. But during those two days Tatsuya grew to genuinely like Atsushi; he was like a giant child with his way of acting petulant and constantly wanting sweets. While he had a habit of saying things that made Tatsuya want to punch him in the face on a regular basis, he was still refreshingly genuine and open about his opinions, and Tatsuya kind of needed that after living his life with a poker face firmly in place.

When they arrived at the Konoha gates, the two chuunin guarding didn't even seem surprised by Tatsuya's presence. "Did Shuuzou bring in another stray when we weren't looking?" One of them asked curiously, giving the shorter teen a cursory glance as they checked over Atsushi's papers.

"You could say that," the purple-haired giant grunted, shifting impatiently and receiving chuckles for it.

They were waved in after that, and Atsushi grabbed Tatsuya's arm and led him near where the clan compounds often were. "Sorry about that. Like I said, we've kind of done this before." Tatsuya nodded in understanding. As they walked the shorter teen felt Atsushi give a slight pulse of chakra, but it seemed more habitual than directed and Tatsuya had felt him do it a few times throughout their trip here.

A few minutes later they were in front of a small but homey compound, a traditional feel surrounding the place. As they approached the steps a redhead about Atsushi's age appeared, his expression cordial but distant. "Have you brought a visitor, Atsushi? You should have told us ahead of time."

"I did, Aka-chin. I told Niji-chin when I found him," the taller teen replied petulantly, and the redhead nodded in acceptance.

"I see." He then turned to face Tatsuya. "Greetings stranger; I'm Akashi Seijuurou of the Nijimura Clan. Has Atsushi brought you here to meet Shuuzou-nii?"

"Himuro Tatsuya, and I think I'm here to see him? Atsushi said that his sensei could help me become stronger."

Tatsuya watched as emotions flickered over Akashi's face before settling on pride. "Yes, he can. Shuuzou-nii is rather good at training others; I'm sure you'll at least leave more enlightened than when you first came in. I will show you where he is."

They walked into the compound after switching out their shoes. The halls seemed well maintained, and around them Tatsuya could hear other occupants.

"Dai-chan! You said you'd try my food!"

"The hell I did! Those aren't blueberries they're nightshade! You'll stay the hell away from me Satsuki! I want to live!" The group heard a loud then, and the voice picked up again. "Ryouta, you traitor!"

"Sorry Daikicchi, but it's every man for himself now!"

Tatsuya smiled a little as a younger teen ran laughing out of what appeared to be the kitchen area, bulleting away in a streak of blonde. He was closely followed by a blur of dark blue that was spewing profanity at him. "They seem rather excitable."

"They're doing their first C-rank tomorrow; they're understandably looking forward to it." Akashi smiled at the pink-haired girl that was standing at the doorway to the kitchen, giggling at the retreating boys. They soon entered a room where clan business was most likely conducted as it had a desk with small stacks of papers on it. Leafing through them was a man in a dark grey yukata who only paused to drink from his tea.

Once they entered the room the man looked up and Tatsuya was somewhat surprised by his relative youth for being a Clan Head. He had straight black hair and grey eyes, and had a grey pearl the same color as his eyes on his left ear. Now that he thought about it, all of the people in the house had a gem or stone on their left ears that was the same color of their eyes. It must be a clan tradition.

"Atsushi, you're back." The man didn't sound surprised. "How was your mission?"

"It went well," Atsushi reported, though they both looked like they had already spoken about it before and were speaking about it now for formality's sake. "I found someone I wanted to bring back with me. Muro-chin seems nice, but he's weak and wants to get stronger."

"I see." The man leaned a little closer and observed Tatsuya, who fought back a fidget at the man's intense stare. "Just for the record, this is the last time that any of you are allowed to bring a person back from a mission that isn't retrieval without the Hokage's permission…or mine before you leave," he amended when Akashi and Atsushi pouted at him (and Tatsuya never wanted to see someone as refined-looking as Akashi pouting _ever again_). "We can't make this a Thing, guys!"

"Mido-chin has Kao-chin," Atsushi pointed out, and the man stared at the giant in an incredulous silence before talking very slowly to him.

"You just compared your teammate finding and treating an injured hawk when he was a genin one day to bringing back a Kusa chuunin who was planning to go rogue." He paused to let that sink in. "Those are _not_ the same thing."

Atsushi pouted at his former sensei again and the man sighed. "As you're an honorary member of the clan I can put Himuro under the protection of the clan as well, but he will have to go through a probationary period before he receives the earring. Also, I will agree to mentor him if he agrees to help me with the disaster trio out there." He pointed out to the hall and Tatsuya gathered that he must be their sensei as well.

"I find that agreeable…"

"Nijimura Shuuzou," the man supplied, and Tatsuya nodded his thanks.

"I find that agreeable, Nijimura-san."

"Wonderful." He pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment and took a deep breath, before looking at Atsushi and Tatsuya again. "Go report to the Hokage, and tell him I'll need a Clan Sponsorship Form while you're at it. And bring Himuro with you." He rolled his eyes a little. "We don't need Kusa accusing us of stealing their shinobi from them."

"Your old sensei seems like a strange man," Tatsuya told Atsushi after Akashi walked them back to the front. "I couldn't feel any of his chakra."

"Sensei's chakra scares people, so he hid it since you weren't used to it." Atsushi explained, and Tatsuya was somewhat touched by the small gesture. "Niji-chin will be able to help you, Muro-chin. He'll make you stronger."

"I'm sure he will, Atsushi." Tatsuya agreed, and he wasn't lying. He could see it in Nijimura's eyes.

This man can surely help him.

* * *

...Excuse, I need to find a table to bang my head on...

So, to make things clearer: Murasakibara, Akashi and Midorima were on the same genin team and Nijimura was their sensei.

Please review.

Ja ne!


	4. Adoption

Don't own Kuroko no Basuke or Naruto.

Don't own the Cover Art.

Chapter Summary: Seijuurou, younger brother of Akasuna no Sasori, meets the one man his brother may actually trust to take care of him.

Adoption

* * *

Seijuurou looked around the village he and his brother were in curiously. "They're recovering well from the Kyuubi," he said aloud, and his brother hummed in agreement. There were still upturned earth near where the beast had been seen and crushed buildings, but repairs were already underway and the village gave no outward sign of weakness.

"It is the stubbornness of Leaf ninja that makes them such highly valued allies," he brother told him, and it was clearly from personal experience.

"Is that why we're here? To meet with one of our allies?"

"One of _my_ allies," his brother corrected, before pausing and amending, "though from what I've heard from some of the Merchant Guild members, he has extended a kindness to them that will give him their allegiance. None the less, he is an ally and almost friend that I made during the Third Shinobi War."

Seijuurou frowned slightly. "I see." They continued in silence to an apartment, and his brother knocked on the door. There was a pause before the door was opened.

The man that appeared was rather tall, with black hair and bloodshot grey eyes. He looked at the two of them in disbelief for a moment before rubbing his eyes and checking again. When they remained standing there he huffed out a slight laugh. "Only you would do something like this and not even bother to appear the slightest bit remorseful about it, Sasori." He said tiredly, moving to the side to let them both enter.

Sasori gave the man a very slight smile. "Apologies for not giving you prior notice, Shuuzou, but I wasn't expecting you to be in such straits at this time."

"You would look like this too if you suddenly had enough paperwork for two separate clans suddenly dumped on your head," the man shot back, closing the door and leading them to the sitting room where a cup of tea was laid out along with the teapot itself and, sure enough, a few stacks of papers. Shuuzou shot the papers a dark look before going into the kitchen and returning with two more cups that he placed in front of them and filled.

"Apparently the Kuroko and Nijimura hadn't completely merged yet," Shuuzou complained, taking a sip of his tea and handing Seijuurou a dispenser of honey when he wrinkled his nose at his cup. "So I have to deal with the paperwork of two separate clans, the paperwork with regards to _merging_ the same two clans, and the general trade agreements the Nijimura get on a regular basis. I don't think I've slept in a week."

Sasori chuckled a little. "That's unfortunate. Sadly, Shuuzou, I am not here just to bask in your company. I wish to call on a favor."

"Name it," Shuuzou answered back easily, growing focused at Sasori's serious tone.

"I need you to adopt Seijuurou into your clan."

The room fell completely silent as Seijuurou tried to process what his brother just said. He looked at Sasori. "Nii-sama…why?"

Sasori looked at his younger brother for a moment and sighed. "I'm tired of that old woman telling us what to do, Seijuurou," he said, fiddling idly with his tea cup. "You need a chance to grow without my shadow or our grandmother hanging over you, and living in Konoha with Shuuzou would ensure that."

"Why can't I just keep living with you?" Seijuurou asked desperately, but his brother wouldn't look at him and Shuuzou had to say it.

"You're going to go rogue, aren't you?" Sasori nodded slightly and the noirette let out a sigh. "I had a feeling you were thinking about it when we talked during the war, but I wasn't sure you'd go through with it. I know there's nothing I can say that'll stop you, but know that you're always welcome to my house, so long as you try to not kill the guards while you're getting in. I also have something for you, so please wait a moment; I'll return momentarily."

The Clan Head stood and walked to where Seijuurou presumed his office was, leaving the brothers in an awkward silence. Seijuurou looked up at his older brother in distress before sighing and steeling his resolve. "Will you be safe?"

Sasori shot him a look. "No Seijuurou, I won't. I'll likely be hunted for abandoning the village, and they'll probably spend a few years looking for a way to get you back as well. But they won't be able to touch you if you're properly adopted into the Nijimura clan, and that's what I'm aiming for now."

"But why are you leaving?"

"I've been experimenting on ways to live forever. To become true art." The older boy smiled, obviously enjoying the idea, before he frowned in annoyance. "The Council however wouldn't approve of my methods and it's only a matter of time until they find out what I've been doing. It's therefore for the best that I leave and continue my research away from the confining restrictions of our village. And who knows; maybe I'll return, if the right circumstances push me."

Seijuurou hesitated before nodding in acceptance. "Alright Nii-sama; I'll stay here with Shuuzou-nii. Try to come back one day."

Content with how the conversation went, the two didn't have to wait long before Shuuzou came back, a thin box in his hands. Clinging to the back of his Yukata was a small blue-haired boy who stared at the redheads with unabashed curiosity. He looked to be four or five, three years younger than Seijuurou. Sasori gazed back at the child, just as curious. "That is the young boy you found in that ransacked village, is it not."

Shuuzou nodded. "Yup. He woke up from his nap while I was walking by the children's room. Anyway, as the Head of the Nijimura Clan and regent of the Kuroko Clan until my brother is of age, I wish to give you this, and name you a friend of the clan." He tossed the box over to Sasori who caught it easily and opened it.

When his brother didn't respond immediately Seijuurou leaned over and looked into the box himself. It was a necklace. It had a simple leather cord and only had an oval-shaped ruby hanging from it with a grey pearl fastened in the center of the oval. It sparkled in the apartment lighting and Seijuurou was sure he could see chakra glittering in the jewel.

"So long as you wear that or keep it in your possession you will be acknowledged as a friend of the Nijimura Clan." Nijimura explained. "There is a seal inside the crystal that will act as a homing beacon if you put your chakra in it which only a member of the clan can sense. Use it only in a state of emergency."

"I'm honored." Sasori finally said, his voice neutral but sincere and Shuuzou accepted it as such.

They continued talking about various things that ranged from Konoha's plans to recover from the Kyuubi attack to Suna's overall state while the brothers were there to what Seijuurou should be taught as he lives with Shuuzou. Sasori insisted that his younger brother receive training as a puppeteer, or at least the information needed to self-train as a puppeteer and Shuuzou agreed easily with that, under the condition that Sasori be the one to provide that information as it would be suspicious for Shuuzou to ask for such a thing, which Sasori in turn agreed to.

While they were talking Seijuurou got the feeling they were being watched, and not just by the blue haired boy who was watching the teens with a bored look on his face only to light up when Shuuzou gave him a spoonful of honey. The feeling persisted for a few minutes and Seijuurou soon found himself hunching into his older brother's side.

Sasori looked at him in surprise as the brothers were not very physically affectionate but Shuuzou seemed to understand what was going on and groaned a little. "Tetsuya, stop eavesdropping on conversations that aren't even private and come meet the newest member to the family."

There was a pause before a blue haired boy a few years older than Seijuurou appeared right beside Shuuzou, causing the younger redhead to make a surprised sound and Sasori to raise an eyebrow in fascination. "And this must be your prodigious brother. He graduated a year early correct?"

Shuuzou nodded. "At the age of nine, yes. They of course changed the graduation years from 4-8 to 6-10 during the war and of course, with the Kyuubi Incident, they'll likely increase it again to 8-12 for some random reason. Mom and dad were proud, for the two years they were alive to be so. I never doubted him for a second." Shuuzou smiled proudly and Seijuurou was surprised to feel a small burr of jealousy in his heart for the quietly beaming light blue-haired boy.

They filled out the paperwork to have Seijuurou properly adopted into the Nijimura clan and Sasori nodded his thanks as he put away the paper. "I'll submit the paperwork right away. In a month I'm leaving Sunagakure for the foreseeable future and Seijuurou will live with you." He stood and picked Seijuurou up. As he headed to the door Sasori paused and turned to his friend. "Take care, Shuuzou."

"And you, Sasori. Know that you're always welcome here."

Sasori nodded again and the brothers left to return to Suna.

A month later, Sasori went rogue, and Seijuurou watched curiously as the council debated over his fate. "We should let Chiyo-sama raise the child to be able to combat against Sasori," one of them argued. "He could come back at any time and we'll need a Puppet Master on par with Chiyo-sama in case he returns should she die."

"That sounds fair," another concurred. "Are there any sort of agreements or documents on what should be done with Seijuurou-kun after Sasori left the village?"

There was a shuffling of paper as the clerk looked through the village records for Seijuurou's profile and the measures to be taken upon Sasori's departure. What all of them expected to just say that Seijuurou would live with his grandmother was proven wrong as the clerk paled a little and shakily laid down the paper. "According to this," he said shakily, "Seijuurou is to be given to Nijimura Shuuzou of Konohagakure upon Sasori's desertion."

There was a pause throughout the room as the council tried to drink this fact in. His grandmother woke up first from her stunned stupor. "_What_?!" She screeched, snatching the paper up to read herself. Chiyo shook with the force of her rage. "That little brat," she seethed. "He planned this all out! I want this agreement made void!"

"We can't, Chiyo-sama," the clerk demurred, frightened for his own life. "The law says that any agreement made by a Suna nin prior to their desertion is incapable of being voided, so that they can't go back on any agreements that they made before going rogue. That includes transfer of guardianship."

"I will not have my grandson going to some no-name _Konoha_ ninja," she hissed venomously, and instantly a merchant puffed up.

"Nijimura-dono is not some no-name ninja," he snapped back, sitting up more in his chair. "His support is a staple to this village!"

"Oh?" Chiyo drawled, disbelieving. "How so?"

"Nijimura-dono is the main buyer of nearly all of our glassware and buys any gems we come across in the desert. He hires our people to mine any veins of minerals we find and buys those veins from us. He also hires our ninja to protect the caravans of those goods to Konoha and pays again for them to guard the returning caravan of money and jewelry and gem crafts that he trades for those wares. He single-handedly makes up about half of the regular trading we do in the village and goes to us before any other village in terms of our wares, and has sworn to do so as long as Suna and Konoha are allies and our prices are fair.

"Nijimura-dono may mean little to you shinobi," the merchant said contemptuously, "but to us merchants he is a trusted ally and friend, and I won't see you discredit him in my presence again."

There was a stilted silence at the man's last words, as Chiyo reluctantly sat back down and Seijuurou looked at the man with wide eyes. He hadn't known that Shuuzou had been making such large waves in Suna, though it did explain what his older brother had meant when he said that Shuuzou had gained the Merchant Guild's allegiance.

The rest of the council tried to argue against Seijuurou's placing with the gem crafter, but none of their arguments could hold water to their traditional laws and any further attempts to speak poorly of Shuuzou was met with brutal rebuffs by the merchant present.

A week later and Seijuurou found himself standing in front of the small compound Shuuzou had repaired and modified for less people, the redhead's ears ringing from the shouts and swears his grandmother had spewed when she learned of her inability to counter her eldest grandson's trickery. Despite that, Seijuurou couldn't keep his smile off of his face as Shuuzou welcomed him into the building with a warm smile.

This was his home now, and Seijuurou would make the best of it.

* * *

no reason- no purpose actually guessed this right on the money, so I decided to post it a little earlier than planned! Awesome job, dear reader!

Please review.

Ja ne!


	5. First Genin Team

Don't own Kuroko no Basuke or Naruto.

Don't own the Cover Art.

Chapter Summary: Shuuzou gets his first genin team: Akasuna no Sasori's younger brother, a brutally smart kid that somehow failed the written and weapons portions of the Academy, and an unusual branch member of the Akimichi Clan. Joy.

First Genin Team

* * *

"Shuuzou-nii? What are you looking at?"

Shuuzou looked up at the question and took a sip of his tea. "I was assigned a genin team, so I'm looking over their profiles."

Seijuurou frowned at his words, his new hitai-ate glinting in the office lighting. "Who are they?" he asked curiously, trying to get a look at the profiles before Shuuzou hid the papers expertly in the trade orders that were also scattered on his desk.

"Sorry Seijuurou, it's a secret. You'll find out who I'm training when team assignments come out," he said, apologetic but stern, and Seijuurou huffed but agreed with him none the less.

"Very well, Shuuzou-nii, I'll leave you to look over your future team. I will be looking over the introductory puppetry books Nii-sama left me." Seijuurou bowed slightly and left, Shuuzou waiting until he could no longer hear his footsteps before letting out a sigh of relief. Shifting the papers, the last Nijimura pulled out the students' records once more.

'_Nijimura Seijuurou'_, _'Shintarou'_, _'Murasakibara Atsushi'_.

Shuuzou felt one of his eyebrows twitch slightly as he read through his ward's profile first. His weapon skills were good, his tactics scores quite impressive for an Academy student and his near-perfect chakra control was noted down as a potential for genjutsu or medical ninjutsu, which made Shuuzou snort a little at the thought.

The thing that probably roped Shuuzou into this mess however was his psychological evaluation: _"Nijimura Seijuurou is a very mentally strong individual who will not take orders from the Academy instructors if he deems the orders foolish or ill-advised. He also shows great signs of leadership but struggles to take others' opinions into account. It is recommended that he be placed with obedient or intelligent teammates and that his sensei be either someone he respects or someone who can keep him in line."_

Yep, this was probably all Seijuurou's fault, Shuuzou grumbled to himself.

Moving to Shintarou's profile next, Shuuzou read the report with a sense of disbelief. Dismal weapon skills, a skill in tactics second only to Seijuurou in the class, and was equally skilled in chakra control, though this time Shuuzou would consider him to be the medic of the team. Every team should have at least one member proficient in the healing arts; Shuuzou himself had been the medic of his team, his chakra magnifying the healing properties of medical chakra and his normal chakra threatening enough to dissuade the enemy from pursuing them or approaching them while they were injured.

Shuuzou also honestly didn't understand the psychological evaluation: _"Despite being an incredibly intelligent individual when engaged in conversation, Shintarou constantly scores the lowest on his exams and is incapable of hitting the target during weapons training. He is stubborn and not easily persuaded from a decision he has already made, and cares for others despite constant efforts not to. It is recommended that he be placed with at least one other individual that can engage him in intelligent conversation regarding tactics and that his sensei be someone capable of training him in medical ninjutsu."_

That made next to no sense. The boy's clearly too proud to be scoring lowly on purpose. What was going on?

Shuuzou hummed thoughtfully at the paper, his free hand putting down his tea cup and idly petting Nigou when the dog happily jumped into his lap, curling up with a content whine when his hand found the tender spot at the base of the blue-eyed dog's ear.

"You're almost too big to do that," he told Tetsuya's ninken idly as he reached for his last student's profile, ignoring the dog's whine of denial.

Atsushi was ranked one of the highest in his class in taijutsu but was average in ninjutsu and poor in genjutsu. His chakra control was average, and his skill in weapons was below average. His skills in tactics were nonexistent.

His psychological evaluation explained his placement onto the team much more clearly: _"Murasakibara Atsushi is childish and lazy. He looks down on those who perform poorly but still have high aspirations of being a ninja. Despite this, he has shown himself to have inherited the loyalty that the Akimichi are famous for as he faithfully follows all of Nijimura Seijuurou's commands. It is recommended that he is placed on the same team as Nijimura Seijuurou and that his sensei be one that is able to keep him in line."_

…So Seijuurou _was_ to blame for all of this…

Shuuzou sighed. He'd been placed in the jounin sensei lottery after he'd mentored Tetsuya and another genin following the Kyuubi Incident and Orochimaru's defection, but he'd never considered himself a very good mentor outside of instructing one or two people. And even then, Anko had already had the skills to make it to chuunin; she'd just needed an unbiased jounin tracking her progress and defending her to the higher ups.

Running a hand through his hair in irritation, Shuuzou sighed. He'd do his best, but they will probably end up being one of the weirdest teams that ever came into existence when he's done with them.

* * *

"Team Five will consist of Nijimura Seijuurou, Murasakibara Atsushi and Shintarou. Your instructor will call you when he arrives."

Shintarou shifted and looked at where Nijimura was sitting, nodding at him before facing the front again. He didn't know Murasakibara, so there was no point in looking for him. He frowned at the thought, and looked to where he guessed the window to be.

For as long as he could remember, Shintarou had had dismal eyesight. He wasn't sure if there was anything he could do about it; he was an orphan and the orphanage was already in a stressful situation as they were over capacity due to taking in even more orphans following the Kyuubi Incident. And even if there was a solution to his eyesight, it wasn't as if he had money for it and the orphanage wouldn't have the money to help either.

Hopefully it wouldn't get in the way of his placing on his team.

After all of the teams were assigned, a few of them were called out by their arriving sensei. Around half of the class was left (Shintarou guessed) when a blur appeared at the door and Nijimura's chakra spiked. The blur spoke up. "Team 5, you're with me. Let's head out." And Nijimura's chakra spiked even more in what Shintarou assumed to be surprise. They met with the blur, who the graduate recognized to be a fairly tall man, and a tall graduate appeared with them. They left and went to a nearby training field.

Once they arrived at the field, their sensei spoke. "Before I begin with anything else," their new sensei began, shifting slightly, "Shintarou; may I examine your eyes?" Nijimura's chakra spiked again.

"Is Shintarou alright?" He asked abruptly, the red blur of his hair shifting slightly as he glanced at his teammate.

"That's what I plan to find out," their sensei assured, stepping a little closer.

"…What does your examination entail?" Shintarou asked suspiciously, quashing any feeling of hope that threatened to rise and let suspicion replace it.

"I'll check your pupil dilation, ask you to count how many fingers I have up at certain distances, and have your eyes follow my finger as I move it across your vision. With this, I'll be able to determine if you can be given corrective lenses for your vision." Their sensei stepped closer to Shintarou, and he could finally see him more clearly. He had stern features, but they held none of the pity Shintarou could at times sense from other people.

"You may." He acquiesced, and watched as his sensei stepped even closer and tipped his head back a little. He began moving his finger in front of Shintarou's eyes, and he obediently began to track it as much as possible without moving his head. Once he finished, their sensei shifted his hitai-ate slightly.

"Try not to blink," he warned, and then light flashed in the genin's eyes. He stared his way through it as their sensei checked one eye, then the other, then the first again and the second again, before putting the hitai-ate back its proper position.

"How many fingers do I have up?" He asked, and Shintarou answered. They continued this for another minute, and when they finished a huge chakra washed over the genin team, making them all hit the ground with a thud. Their sensei breathed out harshly, angrily, then took a deep breath and the chakra disappeared.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, helping them all up, "my temper got the better of me. Come on, we're going to the optician's." He began to stalk off, and they hurried to catch up.

"Shuuzou-nii, you haven't introduced yourself yet," Nijimura reminded him mildly and Shintarou nearly tripped at the familiar title he used.

"Right, forgot. I'm Nijimura Shuuzou, your sensei. You can call me Shuuzou-sensei or just Sensei if you want." Their sensei – Shuuzou – said, and Shintarou blinked a little at that.

"So you're related to Nijimura – sorry, Seijuurou?" He cringed at using the other's first name but Shuuzou hummed.

"I adopted him into my clan when he came to Konoha. If it really bothers you, his nickname is Akashi." Nijimura's – Akashi's – chakra flared again in what felt like happiness, and Shintarou nodded.

"Arigato." They continued in silence that was only broken by Murasakibara constantly eating his way through something, before they arrived at a rather small store that Shuuzou walked right into, the three graduates trailing behind him.

"Ah, Shuuzou! I haven't seen you in quite some time! Have some business for me?" A voice said from behind the counter.

"Yep; one of my genin is near legally blind. I'm going to _kill_ those Academy instructors."

"Now now Shuuzou; you know they dropped physicals recently to up the amount of ninja following the Kyuubi Incident."

"He needs _glasses_, not a recommendation to quit being a shinobi. Here's the prescription I'd recommend for him; we can adjust it as we test." Shintarou assumed that he wrote something down for the other man, because the optician let out a long whistle.

"I'm impressed he graduated if he didn't have glasses this entire time." Shintarou blushed at the praise, and felt his own chakra spike as his sensei hummed in agreement.

The optician asked them to wait a few minutes to get the lenses prepared and they sat in silence for a moment before Murasakibara spoke up. "Ne, how did you know Shin-chin's prescription, Niji-chin?" the giant asked.

"My family has a tradition regarding people's eyes, and so some of us began learning how to medically examine eyes as a way to thank those that let us examine them for the tradition. Unfortunately, I can't tell you more." The group nodded in acceptance and he continued speaking. "Instead, we'll introduce ourselves. Give your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future.

"I'll go first; I'm Nijimura Shuuzou, I like my family, gem crafting, and the friends and vassals of my clan. I dislike those who betray my or my family's trust, delinquents, and those who try to befriend my clan for our money. My hobbies are gem crafting and running the clan business. My dreams for the future…I hope to get the clan to a prosperous state once more, or at least leave behind a legacy."

Akashi started next. "I am Nijimura Seijuurou; I like Shuuzou-nii, the rest of the family, Sasori-niisama, and practicing my puppetry. I dislike those who try to take advantage of Shuuzou-nii or bully the younger members of the family, and…I don't get along with Tetsuya. My hobbies are studying puppetry, training and studying fuinjutsu. My dream is to become the best Puppet Master, and surpass Sasori-niisama."

Murasakibara hummed in a bored manner. "Murasakibara Atsushi. I like sweets and snacks of all kinds. My dislikes are bitter foods and people who think they can be great just by working hard." Just the thought of those people seemed to upset Murasakibara, but Shuuzou let out a small amount of his chakra and that seemed to bring Murasakibara back to the present. He continued. "My hobbies are snacking and helping my parents at the bakery. My dream for the future…" he shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll become a great shinobi then take over at the bakery when my parents retire."

Shintarou shifted a little, uncomfortable. "I am Shintarou; no last name. I like red bean soup and learning new things. I dislike incompetence and those who do not do their best in any situation. I don't really have any hobbies. My dream for the future is to become a Weapons Master once my eyesight is seen to."

"Great, now we know more about each other," their sensei clapped his hands slightly. "The glasses should be done soon, too, so we'll get those and move on from there."

At his words, the optician apparently arrived again for he began to speak. "Excellent timing, Shuuzou! His glasses are ready; how about we give them a test run before we start talking price."

"Agreed," his sensei said, but Shintarou didn't pay any attention to that part of the conversation as he slipped on the glasses handed to him. It was miraculous.

He could _see_.

Shintarou looked at the world around him with wide eyes, actually able to take everything in. He stared intently at Murasakibara's purple hair and tall form, took in Akashi's blood red eyes and hair, and glanced at their sensei. He had black hair and grey eyes, and was looking back at Shintarou just as intently.

"How is it, Shintarou?" He asked softly, and Shintarou's sight was blurred for a moment.

Confused, he lifted his hand to his cheek. It came back wet. 'I'm crying,' he realized, startled, before letting out a sob.

"I can see, Shuuzou-sensei," was all he managed to say, before he lunged forward and hugged the man.

It didn't take long for them to find the correct prescription lenses, and Shintarou had never felt better. He could see so clearly now; his dream of being a Weapons Master didn't seem nearly as distant as it had before. After everything was settled, they looked at the optician.

"So, onto the cost part of this venture," he said and Shuuzou nodded immediately, going for his pouch.

"How much?" he asked, and the optician shook his head.

"It's not that easy, Shuuzou, no matter how much I wish it was. The kid has to pay for it or his family should he have one."

Before Shintarou fell into a panicked state, Shuuzou seemed to be going through a series of thoughts and arguments before his face set into a stubborn scowl. "Well I'm paying whether he wants me to or not. He's a great kid, and I have full confidence he'll make a great shinobi."

The optician figured out what he was saying first and raised his eyebrows, only slightly surprised. "You're willing to adopt the kid into your clan?"

Shintarou's eyes grew wide as Shuuzou nodded. "If he wants me to."

It was the second time that day – and the second time in his life – that Shintarou had ever hugged someone, and both times were his sensei's fault. His vision grew cloudy again.

There was just something in his eyes, he told himself; that's all.

* * *

I'm posting these a bit out of order. This will be stated now. Heck, these aren't even in the order that they were written! So, if information seems lacking in any chapter, it will either be explained later or I haven't thought it up yet at all.

Please review.

Ja ne!


	6. Meeting

Don't own Kuroko no Basuke or Naruto.

Don't own the Cover Art.

Note: The GoM that were adopted into the Nijimura Clan all have Nijimura as their last name, but have their last names from KnB as nicknames that most people refer to them as.

Note: Let's play "Where's Anko"! She's mentioned twice in the chapter, so have fun and good luck!

Chapter Summary: Twenty word prompts of the interaction between Midorima and Tenten, the Weapons Master and Mistress of Konoha.

Meeting

* * *

**1. Green**

Tenten could admit that she often caught herself staring at Midorima's hair if she wasn't careful. She couldn't help it, she often argued in her own mind. His hair was just so eye-catching and…_green_.

Of course, once she met his former teammates from when he was a genin, she would be singing a completely different tune.

At least _his_ hair let him blend in more with the forests surrounding their village. Theirs on the other hand…

* * *

**2. Brown**

Shintarou could actually remember his eyes training on her hair the first time they met in a professional setting (well, as professional as a genin challenging a jounin to a weapons spar could be). Or rather, on the buns that her hair were put into.

He would have dismissed her right then as a frivolous shinobi who would lose her life on a mission if she didn't act more seriously, if he hadn't caught a look at her eyes. They shone like the well-cut amber he often saw in his guardian's hands, and burned with a fire equal to the glassblowing kilns he'd seen in Suna.

He stared at her burning brown eyes, and accepted the request to spar.

* * *

**3. Red**

She came across Midorima one day while he was in a vicious battle against a red-haired Puppeteer. His weapons moved in synch with the hawk he always had on his shoulder when he was walking around the village.

The battle was so intense that Tenten nearly moved to join him in fighting the other shinobi, thinking the redhead an enemy, until she realized that, as fiercely as the two of them were fighting, they weren't following through with any of their moves that could be fatal.

She watched in rapt awe as the fight slowly wound down and the two stopped, bowing to one another before turning to their audience. Midorima frowned slightly at her, but the redhead merely gave her a considering look before turning away dismissively.

"It was a good spar, Shintarou," the other teen said, sipping from a water bottle. His puppet was returned to a large scroll that was slung across his back. "I'll leave you to your…friend," he said that word doubtfully, "and work on the flaws I found with Hidora." He waited for Midorima's nod then walked off, not even bothering to acknowledge Tenten.

She glared heatedly at the departing teen's back and turned to Midorima. "What the hell's his problem?"

Midorima looked away from his hawk that he had been carefully checking over and shrugged slightly. "Akashi has always been that way. He can see when someone has great potential or is moving to reach that potential. He just dismisses those who he doesn't deem worth interacting with at the moment."

Tenten seethed silently as she warmed up for their spar. He beat her more soundly than usual with her as distracted as she was.

The hawk seemed to be laughing at her as Midorima left.

* * *

**4. Purple**

Tenten looked up, and up, and up at Midorima's second teammate. Then she _stared_.

What the hell? Midorima was already ridiculously tall for a shinobi, but this guy was a _monster_. Blatantly ignoring her, the huge teen was eating his way through a bag of cookies and only grunted a short greeting at Midorima before dismissing him.

Midorima nodded at him as well before turning to her to ask what she had been following him for, and Tenten could only stare a little more. They certainly didn't _act_ like former teammates.

But she didn't say anything, afraid that the tall boy – Murasakibara, she would learn later – would _eat_ _her_ for her attitude or something.

* * *

**5. Blue**

Daiki lounged on the branch he'd found near Shintarou's favorite training ground and watched as that tiny genin that'd been shadowing the green-haired jounin approached him, most likely to challenge him to a spar once more.

"I don't really get why he humors her," he muttered aloud, lazily swinging a kunai from one of his fingers, unbothered by the threat it would normally pose to anyone acting so carelessly with it.

He snorted as the spar began, and ended rather abruptly by shinobi standards, Shintarou taking little time to paralyze her arms temporarily with clever use of senbon and his lightning nature.

"So boring," he muttered again, rolling over on the branch to take a nap. Shintarou would get him when he was done.

* * *

**6. Yellow**

One of Midorima's younger brothers, Kise, absolutely frightened Tenten. He'd taken one look at her fighting style and matched her perfectly. It was like fighting against a mirror, and that subconsciously frightened her enough for the blonde to pin her to the ground, one of her own kunai pressed against her neck.

Midorima sighed as the blonde teen got off of her, offering her a hand and watching her with amused golden eyes. She took it with a huff and demanded another spar.

He accepted, and it lasted even shorter as he copied her more advanced moves that she was using, though his movements were much more fluid than her own, to her growing frustration.

Finally, as she lay panting on the ground and he remained standing and chuckling slightly at her, she snapped a little. "What are you, part Uchiha?" she asked, confused and somewhat suspicious.

This was apparently the wrong thing to ask, as his smile fell a little before coming back up, clearly fake this time, his eyes cold and hard. "Nope," he chirped sharply. "I can't say that I am." He left shortly after that, and Tenten couldn't help but feel that she had touched a nerve for some reason.

When she looked at Midorima for help, he looked more disappointed in her than she had anticipated, and it stung a little.

* * *

**7. Pink**

When Tenten finally met Midorima's younger – and only – sister, she began to suspect that the family had been created to give people complexes. That or this girl would truly become the next Tsunade.

In more ways than one.

Ignoring both the thought and the feeling of what self-esteem she had as a female promptly crumbling into dust, she greeted the pink-haired girl politely and was happy to find that she had a mind sharper than even Tenten's favorite kunai.

"You're progressing quite well as a Weapons Mistress," the older girl told her happily after observing her for a few minutes. "Though you may want to start integrating weapons for close combat into your arsenal."

"Oh?" Tenten asked. She'd never been advised that before, outside of Midorima's caustic remarks on the matter. "Why?"

"You'll never be a true Weapons Mistress if you're only skilled in the long-ranged ones." She then left, her pink-hair fanning out behind her, with Tenten staring in surprise at her back.

* * *

**8. Black**

The girl was hounding him for advice once again and Shintarou was growing tired of it. He'd managed to escape and was relaxing in a tea shop when he received a rather unpleasant surprise.

"Shintarou-kun, I wasn't expecting to see you here today."

Shintarou jumped with a loud yelp, Takao nearly falling off of his shoulder with the abruptness of his movement. Turning to the voice, he glowered at his older brother figure. "Tetsuya-nii, I've told you not to do that. You'll get attacked one day if you keep startling shinobi in the village."

"Shin-chan has a point, Tet-chan," the hawk agreed, trying to smooth the feathers that'd fluffed up in surprise.

Tetsuya bowed his head in apology, but Shintarou didn't believe it for a second. "Of course, Shintarou-kun, Takao-kun. My apologies." He then paused and took a sip of his drink, Shintarou further berating himself for being surprised Tetsuya was there once he realized that it was the only shop in the village that sold vanilla milkshakes. "I saw the genin chasing you; another admirer perhaps?"

"Definitely not," he scoffed, and bristled at Tetsuya's amused smile.

* * *

**9. White**

Neji glowered at the green haired jounin that was talking quietly with Gai, Lee listening in with fascination that was growing into excitement. Gai looked proud of something, while the jounin only appeared mildly interested. The hawk that perched on the jounin's shoulder began cleaning its feathers and Neji suspected that something was going on when the jounin adjusted his glasses and shot it a look.

The jounin soon approached him and Neji straightened his back at the sharp look in those green eyes. "Your sensei tells me that you're able to neutralize your female teammate's weapons with ease."

Neji nodded, not bothering to act modest on the matter. "That is correct. The Byakugan allows 360 degrees of vision; I am able to dodge and block her with ease."

The jounin seemed somewhat amused, his hawk chirping in what sounded like laughter. "I see. So you would not be against a light spar against me? I too am primarily a user of weapons."

Neji snorted; this fool wouldn't last long. "I would not." They stood a respectful distance away from one another to start, and in an instant they moved. Neji blinked and jumped away as five shuriken passed over right where he had just been standing. Not wanting it to end too early, Neji activated his Byakugan and glared at the man who suddenly looked darkly amused.

Neji watched warily as the hawk circled around them, not taking his eyes off of the jounin. Apparently a cue had been given because he felt claws scrape at the back of his head.

But he couldn't _see_ it.

Neji spun around, white eyes wide with shock, but the hawk was already gone. He saw the jounin smirk and throw something onto the ground. And the world erupted into light that seared its way into Neji's mind.

The last thing he remembered of that day was a voice saying, "She clearly isn't practicing as hard as I've told her to."

* * *

**10. Orphan**

They were both orphans, once upon a time. She didn't really know that Shintarou was once as alone as she had been before she had been adopted by the village weaponsmith. He sympathized with her past; he too had lived in the orphanage for the first few years of his life. But they were both made stronger by their circumstances, he brought into the Nijimura clan and she made into a weaponsmith apprentice and future Weapons Mistress.

They were once orphans, but they would both be great one day. Of that, Shintarou is sure.

* * *

**11. Awe**

Sometimes Midorima awed her, the way he knew every single one of the weapons in his possession like he knew his limbs, the way he could glare down any of the more snide chuunin or jounin with nothing but an ominous glare of his glasses, the way that even the more foolish jounin talked of him, respect and annoyance there in equal measure.

He came back one day after a mission with a pair of kusarigama. He silently gave her one then spent the rest of the day practicing with it until he looked as comfortable with it as he did with his kunai.

Yep, he definitely awed her.

* * *

**12. Impress**

At this point, when the guy a few years older than her smiled at her, she was just straight-up impressed. "Is he one of your brothers too?" she asked, watching the unfairly _pretty_ man look around before catching sight of the guy beside her and walking over, his visible eye narrowing as his smile grew.

Midorima grunted and his hawk outright laughed. "No, Himuro is not related to me," he said sternly. "Murasakibara found him and brought him back to the village one day. He's just a vassal of the clan, though that in itself is certainly not a bad rank to hold."

Tenten snorted and wondered if she could ask Himuro if he did anything special to keep his skin that clear.

* * *

**13. Inspire**

Tenten will take this secret to her grave if she can help it, but it was also probably rather obvious: It was Midorima who inspired her to be a Weapons Mistress.

She had only been a new Academy student at the time, going under the recommendation of the weaponsmith that'd adopted her. She was leaving one day when she came across a tall man arguing with a blue-haired teen, the teen mocking him constantly until the man growled and threw a kunai behind his back. It had clearly been a dare or challenge, but that wasn't what Tenten focused on.

What she focused on was that the kunai was stuck in the exact center of the target despite the man never once turning to look or check its trajectory. A perfect bullseye. She looked on in wonder as a hawk flew down, plucked out the kunai, and returned it to the older teen's had, the younger one snickering but raising his hands up in defeat.

She wanted to be like that guy one day, Tenten decided. She wanted to hit a target perfectly without even having to look.

* * *

**14. Seal**

"In a time of war, it is likely that the girl would have been your ideal apprentice." Seijuurou dutifully told Shintarou, not paying his "brother" any mind when he choked on the breath he'd taken. 'Hidora's left head still won't secrete the poison for its fangs,' he mused in annoyance, tilting the serpentine puppet's left head back so that he could look closer at the hinges and seals.

"I beg your pardon?" Shintarou finally gasped out, looking horrified at the very thought. Seijuurou sympathized; in their minds, they'd been fortunate to not have a female as their third teammate, Atsushi complementing their group better. This opinion had only been solidified by the horror stories that Ryouta and Daiki constantly told them of their missions with Satsuki.

There was also the week that the two hid in their rooms as Shuuzou gave Satsuki the dreaded Talk, giving her a chocolate bar when he finished and walking off in a haunted daze.

"I will not repeat myself when I know you heard me quite clearly," he told the other, his hands reaching for a nearby screwdriver to open the puppet's mouth hinges. "You are a Weapons Master; she excels in bukijutsu; it is not a difficult conclusion to make."

It was not uncommon for shinobi to take on a single apprentice in a time of war. For instance, after the Kyuubi Incident the village had implemented a war-time system and Shuuzou had mentored two genin until they reached the rank of chuunin. Shintarou knew this as well and grimaced.

"Well then it is fortunate indeed that we are not in a war, isn't it?" Is all he snapped after a moment's pause and Seijuurou hummed absently in agreement. They fell to silence once more.

* * *

**15. Scroll**

She may dislike Akashi (and she really, really _did_), but Tenten could acknowledge that using a scroll to keep more puppets on hand was an excellent idea. Thinking more on it, she made two of her own storage scrolls, putting as many weapons into them as she could.

It worked, and releasing them had been very impressive and cathartic, but she couldn't use them after she threw them if the opponent managed to dodge most of them. She attached ninja wire to each weapon, but they still wouldn't easily return.

She became airborne after more testing and that was what she needed for this technique to be near perfect. She grinned in excitement.

The Soushouryuu was going to be so awesome once she finished it.

* * *

**16. Hawk**

Takao grumbled to himself as that panda-haired female ran over, and ruffled his feathers in annoyance. He honestly didn't get why Shin-chan put up with her when he had other things to be worrying about, like doing missions or practicing his aim for hours on end.

Instead he let that distracting nuisance of a genin-hatchling spar with him and ask for advice and just _hover_ around them. It was driving Takao crazy! If Shin-chan didn't get in enough practice he got pouty and snapped at the others and sulked during dinner until Shuu smacked him and gave him a bowl of red bean soup.

It was funny, hilarious even, the first few times she hunted them down and annoyed Shin-chan into giving her advice, but now she didn't _need_ it. Takao liked her well enough, but sometimes he wished she would give them some time to relax inside the village.

And maybe…maybe Takao just wanted to spend some time with his partner without having to be quiet the entire day, damn it all.

* * *

**17. Youth**

"Yosh!" Lee shouted out, pumping his fist in his exuberance. "Tenten! I find your rivalry with Midorima-san to be epitome of youth! I shall endeavor to make my rivalry with Neji as youthful as yours with Midorima-san!" Gai beamed proudly at his pupil, before looking at his only female student. While annoyed, she didn't contradict the boy's statement and simply sighed in resignation. Gai nodded happily.

Good. She shouldn't deny her the identity of her Eternal Rival. It would certainly hurt any Eternal Rival's feelings to have such a connection denied. He could only imagine how Kakashi would react if he stopped declaring him his Eternal Rival, and it should certainly be the same with anyone else.

(Throughout the village, Shintarou, Kakashi and Neji suddenly felt the need to vehemently deny something.)

* * *

**18. Age**

"My guardian has asked me to invite you to dinner at our house." Tenten stared at Midorima in utter confusion, both he and his hawk looking equally displeased with his words.

"…Why?" She finally asked, figuring that that should be the first thing to figure out before moving on to other questions.

Midorima sniffed. "My…siblings…were making fun of me about you constantly following me around and my guardian grew curious as I haven't spoken of you to him. Since he guessed – correctly – that I wouldn't invite you to the house willingly, he requested you come by for dinner so he could finally meet you."

Tenten's confusion barely faded. "Why didn't he just find me himself and invite over that way? This seems like a lot of extra work for all of you."

"He wouldn't have been able to easily recognize you. And," for a moment Midorima seemly incredibly displeased, his glasses flashing, "he's been incredibly busy as of late. Many villages have been sending in large requests for jewelry with the upcoming festivals. He wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the house at the moment."

Tenten felt a small wave of sympathy at that, and nodded in agreement. "Sure, I'll go. Thanks for the invitation."

Midorima nodded and, when the sun began to set, led her toward the Hokage Monument. "While they lived in the Kuroko compound for a while, Shuuzou-nii found that they all preferred to live in the Nijimura compound by the monument; less memories from the sounds of it." Tenten nodded in understanding and they soon arrived at a rather traditional looking clan house.

They entered easily and as they were changing out their shoes Midorima called out, "We're home."

"Welcome home," a voice stated by them, and Tenten turned to see a man slightly shorter than Midorima standing before them, with a surprisingly normal shade of hair and clear grey eyes. Midorima's hawk – she really needs to learn its name – flew to him and perched on his outstretched arm easily, content as the man ran a hand down its back. "You must be Tenten," he greeted, nodding slightly to her. "I am Nijimura Shuuzou, the head of this clan."

Tenten hastily bowed at this information, nervous. "Thank you for inviting me here tonight." She was actually stunned that he was the Clan Head, but there was a certain age to his appearance that made him appear older than he likely was, now that she was aware of his position in the clan.

Nijimura waved her off. "It was no trouble, I was admittedly quite curious to meet the girl that my wards were constantly teasing Shuuzou with." He smiled in amusement, and she hesitantly returned it. "Now then, it's time for dinner. I hope you don't mind, but we have a few other people invited as well."

"I don't mind at all," she reassured, but was somewhat concerned when the hawk started laughing.

It was absolute _chaos_. There were chairs being thrown, and people laughing and shouting and generally wreaking havoc on the rather battered looking table. A woman in a tan trench coat was draping over a man with light blue hair that didn't pay her any mind. Himuro was distracting Murasakibara from eating all of the deserts right away, and Akashi was talking with Momoi with a pleasant smile on his face that made Tenten immediately wish she ran away screaming when she had the chance.

Kise was playing with a dog that had the exact same eyes as the light blue-haired man and arguing heatedly with a teen his age that had dark blue hair and eyes. Eventually the blue-haired teen scowled and poured his drink on the blonde, instigating a shriek of rage and a small scuffle that everyone else ignored.

And they hadn't even started _eating_ yet.

It was the most interesting dinner she'd ever gone to.

* * *

**19. Friends**

The day following the epic Battle of the Table Midorima approached her again, and simply handed her a necklace. It was a tiger's eye shaped in an oval with a grey pearl in the center of it. When she looked at it in blank comprehension he snorted. "I think Shuuzou-niisan wants you to have it since you managed to survive the entirety of dinner without running away screaming."

When she just continued to stare at it he scowled rather harshly. "You don't have to accept it," he stated, but Tenten could just _tell_ that that was a lie; that it would hurt at least one person to deny that little piece of jewelry.

"Are you kidding? It looks amazing!" She snatched it from him and saw a slight tension seep from his frame.

"Good." He adjusted his glasses. "Don't screw up, or I'll hunt you down myself." He then left, his hawk utterly silent – and disapproving? – on his shoulder and Tenten stared after him.

"What the hell does _that_ mean?!"

* * *

**20. Rivals**

They were the Weapons Master and Mistress of Konoha. Their aim was true, their words at times as sharp as the weapons they threw and just as precisely thrown. They were feared and admired by doujutsu users, and valued highly by their teammates.

They both trained rigorously for their distinction, sharpening their skills and honing them as she did at the forge, as he did when his hands grew idle. They practiced until they both became weapons on their own right, where they were praised by their allies and avoided by their enemies.

They were Nijimura "Midorima" Shintarou and Tenten, the Weapons Master and Mistress of Konoha. They were friends, colleagues, acquaintances, allies. And, though they both rather scorned the idea (her out of horrified recollections of her sensei and exuberant teammate and he out of annoyance and denial, in Takao's words), rivals.

* * *

This was a lot of fun to write! The only one that really gave me trouble was the very last one, so yay!

Also, before I'm asked, _I am not trying to pair them up in this_. She's _12-13_, and he's _18-19_. That's a bit of a gap at their current age.

Please review.

Ja ne!


	7. Testing

Don't own Kuroko no Basuke or Naruto.

Don't own the Cover Art.

Chapter Summary: Akashi wants to test some of his seals on human subjects. Nijimura is kind of forced to volunteer.

Testing

* * *

For the fourth time that hour, the redhead paused, his grip tightening for a moment on his brush before he shot his guardian a look. "Please stop moving, Shuuzou-nii," he scolded, resuming his movements after the other man's back rose and fell in an obvious sigh and stilled once more. The older man would argue more if he thought that doing so would bear any fruit, but knew quite well that it wouldn't when it came to this particular chuunin.

"In the four times you've said that, only two of them were accurate Seijuurou-kun." A voice piped up beside him, and Nijimura "Akashi" Seijuurou had to lift his hand completely to avoid making a mistake when he twitched in surprise.

"Tetsuya," he greeted, looking over to his right at the last Kuroko who was not even bothering to hide how he hovered near Seijuurou and their mentor. "I've told you before to not do that. I want my first rounds of human testing to go well, and surprising me into making a mistake will hinder that. Who knows what a poorly drawn line on the seal could do?"

"Which is why I don't appreciate you testing them on my Nii-san," Tetsuya said back, his voice bland but his features a little tighter than usual.

Seijuurou's eyes narrowed and he forced his hand to relax so that he didn't accidentally shatter the brush. "I don't like doing it either," he argued. "But the Council has forbidden my testing on other ninja outside of our 'clan', we're already past what animal testing we can do, and everyone else is still on active duty." He paused, before adding, "And Shuuzou-nii won't let me test on the others anyway."

It may have sounded petulant to everyone in the room, but Tetsuya nodded none the less and looked at their guardian. "Shuuzou-niisan, I do think that one of the others would be acceptable for testing. Atsushi-kun's durability would make any backfiring ineffective and Daiki-kun is too hard-headed to honestly get hurt at this point."

Shuuzou waited until Seijuurou had finished the last seal on his shoulder before he spoke, which the redhead appreciated. "Atsushi is in the Land of Hot Water scaring the hell out of its denizens and you just want Daiki tested because he started reading those stupid Icha Icha books, don't you?" Propping himself up with his arms, he shot his younger brother a look. "Besides, Atsushi's durability works against us in this regard. We need to know how the seals respond to an average ninja, so using someone who is not easily damaged is counterproductive."

"Damaging the head of our clan and older brother figure should be equally counterintuitive," the light blue shadow deadpanned, but he seem to be backing off somewhat.

"At least we're doing it in a safe place," Shuuzou argued back. "Besides, I have you two here to make sure it all goes well." Seijuurou tried to not move, but knew that such trust in his abilities put him more at ease, and he guessed that it did the same to Tetsuya, who hesitated before stepping more into the room and closing the door behind him.

Seijuurou stood up and moved a small distance from Shuuzou. "Try using your chakra now," he requested. "This should get rid of the magnifying effect. On a regular ninja, it should mute the chakra being felt by those around you." The noirette shot him a dubious look but stood and obediently began releasing how much of his chakra could be felt.

Because of his magnified chakra, Shuuzou was typically mistaken for a civilian by any shinobi who had never met him before as he had to keep it all tightly locked down to avoid putting the village at large in a state of alarm, so it was always a struggle with their mentor for him to go about his day without releasing his chakra. Normally he would let it loose in their compound but he'd kept it restrained for testing on Seijuurou's request.

Seijuurou watched as Shuuzou's hand filled with a perfectly formed sphere of chakra, and it _felt_ like a perfectly formed sphere of chakra, and looked up at him with a smile. The smile faded in confusion.

The "retired" jounin was frowning in puzzlement, as if tasting something unusual. He tried to return the chakra to within his body, but the seals on his shoulders changed from a working blue to red in warning. Shuuzou ignored it and continued absorbing his chakra, and the frown of puzzlement turned into one of discomfort. He stopped after another attempt, and simply let the wood beneath them absorb his chakra. "It feels wrong when I try to reabsorb it," he reported, sitting on a nearby cushion.

Seijuurou mused over that, frowning, and Tetsuya disappeared and reappeared while he was lost in his thoughts and gave their mentor a cup of tea, which he accepted gratefully. "It might be that your body can't recognize the chakra anymore if it isn't magnified," he thought aloud. "So it thinks that foreign chakra is intruding, and responds accordingly. I'll have to research more." He moved to go to the Nijimura-Kuroko library, but Shuuzou grabbed his wrist when it was in range.

"Could you remove the seal first?" the noirette asked him pointedly, and he allowed an embarrassed huff to escape before carefully doing just that. He did his best to not blush at forgetting to help his former sensei remove the seals as the man didn't know the proper way to do it himself; he just tended to get distracted when focusing on his research.

When he finished, Shuuzou rolled his shoulders and nodded gratefully at him before slipping back into his yukata with the ease of a ninja and the grace of a Clan Head. He then patted Seijuurou on the head and began walking back to his office to continue looking at trade agreements, carrying his tea with him and leaving the two chuunin to look at one another. Tetsuya's lips twitched.

"Shut up," Seijuurou told him, passing him to get to the library. Tetsuya began following him, and the redhead cursed him mentally for it.

"I didn't say anything," the bluenette mocked blankly, and Seijuurou didn't miss the amusement in his eyes when he shot the older male a dirty look.

"You didn't have to."

* * *

I'll have it said now: Akashi and Kuroko do _not_ get along. Not to the level of Naruto and Sasuke; they enjoy talking from time to time, but they both adore Nijimura and basically compete for his attention. As such, they don't particularly like one another's company.

It may interest you to know that this is actually the second chapter I ever wrote, Firstborn being the first.

This is the last chapter I've written thus far, so it may take a while for more to be written. Sorry guys.

Please review.

Ja ne!


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